It is often argued that every single child should be learning a foreign language the moment they step into the school, while others think it would be the best for them to start learning it in high school. While it is true that primary school children already have complicated school programs that are overwhelming enough for their age, I believe that learning a new language from such a young age would benefit them in future as well as throughout the school.
On the one hand, the moment school children start their very first steps in acquiring education they have an immense number of tasks they should complete for the first time in their life, on top of being in an unknown environment where they also need to socialize with their peers and their teachers. All the listed things could be already burdensome for their age, so picking up a new language might take a toll on their educational process. For example, in the UK primary school children’s curriculum consists of literacy in their own mother tongue, reading comprehension, arts, music, basic math which includes fractions, geometry and even statistics. Consequently they have enough to learn and explore, therefore a foreign language would be an additional weight for young children to carry on top of their own school curriculum.
On the other hand, being fluent in more than one language from an early age can have a positive impact on the children’s academic intelligence. A study revealed that bilingual children outperform monolingual children on the majority of standardized tests. This can be explained by the fact that being fluent in more than one language since early age can improve cognitive skills and memory. Therefore, adding secondary languages as main course to a program will not only boost language education at schools, it will also improve other fields such as science and math as they require skills that include memory and cognition. Subsequently, knowing more languages is not just a benefit on university applications; it also has a positive influence on the overall academic performances of the school children by stimulating the brain’s functionality to its fullest.
In conclusion, while knowing more than one language will seriously benefit school children in many other ways, some still feel that adding a foreign language to primary school curriculum would be burdensome for the children considering they have enough on their plate. However, being fluent in more than one language could have a direct positive effect on students’ overall academic performance which include crucial fields like science and math.
It is
often
argued that every single child should be learning a foreign
language
the moment they step into the
school
, while others
think
it would be the best for them to
start
learning it in high
school
. While it is true that primary
school
children
already have complicated
school
programs that are overwhelming
enough
for their
age
, I believe that learning a new
language
from such a young
age
would benefit them in future
as well
as throughout the school.
On the one hand, the moment
school
children
start
their
very
first
steps in acquiring education they have an immense number of tasks they should complete for the
first
time in their life, on top of being in an unknown environment where they
also
need to socialize with their peers and their teachers. All the listed things could be already burdensome for their
age
,
so
picking up a new
language
might take a toll on their educational process.
For example
, in the UK primary
school
children’s
curriculum consists of literacy in their
own
mother tongue, reading comprehension, arts, music, basic math which includes fractions, geometry and even statistics.
Consequently
they have
enough
to learn and explore,
therefore
a foreign
language
would be an additional weight for young
children
to carry on top of their
own
school
curriculum.
On the
other
hand, being fluent in more than one
language
from an early
age
can have a
positive
impact on the
children’s
academic intelligence. A study revealed that bilingual
children
outperform monolingual
children
on the majority of standardized
tests
. This can be
explained
by the fact that being fluent in more than one
language
since early
age
can
improve
cognitive
skills
and memory.
Therefore
, adding secondary
languages
as main course to a program will not
only
boost
language
education at
schools
, it will
also
improve
other
fields such as science and math as they require
skills
that include memory and cognition.
Subsequently
, knowing more
languages
is not
just
a benefit on university applications; it
also
has a
positive
influence on the
overall
academic performances of the
school
children
by stimulating the brain’s functionality to its fullest.
In conclusion
, while knowing more than one
language
will
seriously
benefit
school
children
in
many
other
ways,
some
still
feel that adding a foreign
language
to primary
school
curriculum would be burdensome for the
children
considering they have
enough
on their plate.
However
, being fluent in more than one
language
could have a direct
positive
effect on students’
overall
academic performance which include crucial fields like science and math.